Clothing retailers in Arab Road Market, in Kubwa, Abuja, on Thursday complained of poor patronage, six days to the Christmas.
Some of the traders, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), blamed the low sales on the current hardship being experienced in the country.
Mr David Onyebueke, a dealer in children’s clothes and shoes said, ‘’Good sales are determined by civil servants’ patronage.
‘’You know, many of them are yet to be paid their December salaries. And due to the current economic situation, some of them have to think about transportation and feeding first, before clothes.
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“Last year, around this time, we had good sales. We are praying that things will improve.
‘’We urge the government to pay civil servants the new minimum wage,” he said.
Another trader, Mrs Ekene Ugochukwu, said some civil servants who patronized her business, wanted to buy on credit.
‘’They complained of delayed salaries. I can’t afford to sell on credit.
‘’Things are very hard now and it is not easy for us business owners because we have invested so much in the purchase of our goods, but we are not seeing buyers,’’ she lamented.
Mrs Daisy Idaghe, who sells fairly used clothes for children, said people were focusing more on food first and not clothes.
According to Idaghe, business generally has been slow and prices of clothes have also skyrocketed.
“The bail of clothes I bought for N300,000 in 2023 is now N700,000. Things are not easy for everyone and the customers are not coming to buy anything,” she said.
Another trader, Mrs Ezinne Kalu, said even though patronage was not great, she made some sales.
‘’I am grateful to God for the little sales I made. Business for me gets better every day. We the masses also need to pray for the government because the Bible encourages us to do so.
‘’We need to pray for our leaders for God to touch their hearts to do something that will be beneficial to us all,” she said. (NAN)
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